Caption
Flo, the lioness matriarch of Senegal's Niokolo Koba National Park and the country's first lion ever GPS collared, pictured with her three new cubs. The cubs, two males and one female, were three months old in the photo here, captured on camera in February 2023.
The footage and photos of Flo and her cubs have served as a thrilling sign of recovery for the Critically Endangered West African lion, as announced by Panthera and Senegal’s Department of National Parks (DPN). The breathtaking footage and photos show the cubs nursing, playing and feeding.
‘Florence,’ or 'Flo' is estimated to be a 9 to 10-year-old lioness that scientists believe has now given birth to three litters — nine cubs in total — in her lifetime. Now considered the matriarch of Niokolo Koba, this lioness has contributed approximately one third of the park’s lion population.
Since Panthera began working in NKNP in 2011, the lion population has more than doubled from 10-15 individuals to 30 today due to persistent anti-poaching and scientific monitoring efforts. Among the nine cubs Florence has contributed are three males that have formed the park’s first coalition. The existence of a male coalition is an especially encouraging sign of lion recovery, as such units are formed only when numbers are high enough to warrant competition between males.
Just 120-374 West African lions are estimated to remain in the wild today, with their historic range having shrunk by 99 percent. Panthera scientists have set the ambitious goal of growing NKNP’s lion population to 50 by 2025 and 100 lions by 2030. Ultimately, they believe the park can support 180-240 lions.